Posts Tagged ‘food’

College basketball is a game of tradition. Fans line up days before a big game to make sure they get good seats, they do the same chants, wave their arms in the same way and cheer the same way all in an effort to propel their team to victory. The food fans eat is also a big part of the tradition, whether before the game, at it or after it.

There is one small problem, though, with college basketball food traditions: the weather. It’s cold outside and, while football breeds legendary tailgating and outdoor eating, college basketball fans are stuck indoors. Fortunately, the basketball arena itself or your local watering hole, restaurant or sports bar is there to be the cornerstone of your basketball eating traditions. Here are just a few of the more popular food destinations in great basketball cities.

Free State Brewery — Lawrence, Kansas

Free State is a local microbrewery in Lawrence that’s almost always packed full of hungry and thirsty Jayhawks. Known across eastern Kansas for its excellent ales, including the hoppy Ad Astra ale, Free State has been a Lawrence hangout for decades. It’s located on one end of Massachusetts Street, a five-block area in Lawrence filled with restaurants, bars and eclectic stores, making it a wonderful place to grab a good dinner and a beer before catching a bus to campus, cheering the Jayhawks to another home victory and then returning for a postgame celebration.

Eskimo Joe’s — Stillwater, Oklahoma

Eskimo Joe’s is an institution in Stillwater with a national reputation because of its simple, but always recognizable T-shirts with the Eskimo logo and sled dog logo. Eskimo Joe’s is a multistory, multibar, multi-TV eating-and-drinking establishment that is perfect for Cowboy fans to get to before, during or after the game. The food is amazing, the drinks cool and the merchandise is legendary. Game days usually feature food and drink specials, and the atmosphere gives Cowboys and Cowgirls plenty of reasons to stay and party long after the drinking is over.

KFC YUM! Center — Louisville, Kentucky

Perhaps eating KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut during a game isn’t the most gourmet of food traditions. Still, when you’re at a stadium named after the YUM! brands (the owners of KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.) you know that you’ll be able to eat well at one of the stadium’s concession stands which will sell you a Taco Bell taco, a Pizza Hut pizza, etc. Plus, KFC YUM! Center is fairly unique in that not a lot of basketball arenas are sponsored by large food concerns. At the very least, the presence of so many YUM! foods means you’ll never have to eat stale nachos and that weird yellow cheese.

Players Sports Bar — San Diego, California

Players tops the list of the best sports bars in California, which is no small feat given the huge number of places where one can catch a game in the Golden State. However, San Diego gets high marks because of its proximity to one of the best emerging college basketball programs in the nation (San Diego State University). Players, though, gets high marks not for its local clientele, but for the fact it always keeps some of its large number of TV screens tuned to games from the Universities of Missouri, Texas, Illinois, and North Carolina, giving visitors and people who move to San Diego a little taste of home. Try their fried green beans and a burger when you drop in.

Walk-On’s — Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Located within stumbling distance of LSU’s Pete Maravich Center, Walk-On’s is a local chain of sports bars named after three LSU walk-ons (two of who happen to be the bars’ owners.) Walk-On’s is perfect for getting some postgame grub because of its proximity to campus and because it prides itself on being a center of food and fun for all LSU sports fans. Some of the fun may not be of the family-friendly variety, but that doesn’t mean that the adventure seekers and college-students-at-heart won’t find a great meal at the place voted Best Sports Bar by ESPN.

1. Tent – Whether you’re on a solo trip or camping with the family, for protection from the elements you’ll need a shelter in the form of a tent. Where you’re camping and the time of year will determine the details, but in general you should always try to get as much tent as you can for the money. By “as much tent” I don’t mean size (though I’ll cover that in a moment); I’m talking about quality, workmanship and durability. Believe me, you will not enjoy being awakened in the middle of the night to find rain leaking into your tent because you bought the bargain brand. Also, buy the next size up from your needs. In other words, if you’re camping solo, take a 2-person tent, if it’s you and a buddy take a 3-4 person tent, and so on until you need to split up the people. You’ll appreciate the extra room, if for nothing else but storage, but in particular because you’ll find that a 2 person tent usually means 2 small persons. I’m 6’4″ and another person can make a 2-person tent feel very crowded.

2. Sleeping Bag – Again, where and when you’re camping will dictate the details, but keep in mind you’ll be spending several hours each night in that bag, so make it as comfortable a sleeping bag as you can. Taking a 40-degree rated bag into a freezing or snowy area guarantees you’ll be wishing you had the minus-20-degree bag as you shiver through the night. Also, if you’re not going to be using a pad or air mattress, make sure you have a thick bag with quality stuffing. Otherwise, your body will feel every bump, rock and twig you lay on throughout the night.

3. Food/Water – The kind of food you take will depend on your personal tastes and the tastes of those camping with you. The amount of food and water will depend on how many campers there are and how long and remote your camping trip will be. Water is more necessary than food. Current recommendations call for each of us to drink a half-gallon (64 ounces) of water a day. In an outdoor camping environment where you are probably exerting yourself more than usual by hiking, canoeing, biking, etc. it would be prudent to double that to a gallon per person per day just for water consumption. If you need water for washing utensils or other needs, then take a separate supply for those requirements.

4. Ice Chest – Unless you’re camping in the dead of winter and using the nearby river to keep your perishable food cold, or you’re just not taking any perishable food and don’t need one, take an ice chest. I tried out one of the 5-day models during this past hurricane season and they work great for keeping things cold for days (mine went 6) even in hot, humid Florida weather.

5. Stove/Campfire – I’ve done this both ways and generally I prefer to build a campfire, especially for the heat it generates in cool or cold weather, but a stove can be good too, particularly if you’re using cookware that would not stand up to the direct flame of a campfire. This Spring and Summer, I intend to try out the new self-heating dinner packets (they just recently arrived at my local store) to see how those work/taste, but I’ll probably use those mostly when backpacking.

6. Flashlights/Lanterns – Unless you’re going to get up every hour or so to feed the campfire through the night, you’ll appreciate having a good flashlight or lantern to supply light in the darkness. Plus, if you’re looking for something in your kit at dusk or just before dawn, they’re more helpful than holding a flaming torch.

7. First Aid Kit – This can range from a very bare bones kit to one that would be more at home on an EMT’s truck, depending on your wants and needs. I always carry one that has band-aids, bandages, gauze, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, a topical anti-biotic, aspirin, burn spray and insect repellant.

8. Cookware/Dinnerware/Utensils – A good frying pan, Dutch oven and pot will go a long way toward making cooking a manageable event, plus some plastic plates, cups and eating utensils will make your dining experience a bit more civilized.

9. Matches/Lighters – I know, I know, we’re all mountain men (and women) and we can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. This is easier.

10. Personal Items – These will vary according to your own personal wants, interests, hobbies, etc. For instance, I prefer to sleep on an air mattress, so when I can I take one along. A hammer or small hatchet for driving tent stakes into the ground beats using a rock. A multi-purpose knife can help with a multitude of tasks. I take reading material, music and sometimes, if I’m at a site with power, I’ll even take my laptop to write, watch a DVD or work on photos I’ve taken during the day.

These basic pieces of camping equipment, used as determined by length and location of your camping experience, will cover your needs when you go tent camping, insuring that you have a minimum level of comfort and safety.

It’s good to know how many calories you are consuming whether you are on a diet or just making sure you eating enough to stay healthy. We’ve put together a list of common favorite foods and their calorie content. This way you can keep track of your caloric intake and if you’re desperate for those morning pancakes (520 calories for two) you’ll know where to compensate elsewhere or be more inspired to hit the gym later.

Also remember, there’s a lot of great low calorie substitutes for high calorie foods such as a chicken burger (130 calories) versus a hamburger (250 calories).

Calorie Content in Popular Foods

Food

Calories

Bagel

140

Buttermilk Biscuit

281

White Bread (one slice)

96

Whole Grain Bread (one slice)

89

Chocolate Cake

235

Cheeseburger

300

Potato Chips (handful)

160

French Fries (large serving)

539

Chile Fries (medium serving)

370

Frozen Yogurt (1/2 cup)

117

Hamburger

250

Macaroni and Cheese

207

Mashed Potatoes

237

Fried Rice

500

Steak (3 oz)

158

Salsa

36

Scrambled Eggs

102

Spaghetti

109

Calories give you energy, which is needed to keep you and your body going throughout the day, but if you’re not burning enough calories then that’s where weight gain occurs. So it’s important to make sure you’re not eating food that’s too high in calories, which will add to extra, unwanted weight gain.

The important thing to remember is to live a healthy style. The calorie content in food should play a role in your diet along with exercise and your scale will thank you.

Determine what type of physical activity best suits your lifestyle. You should work your way up to regular aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, jogging or swimming, since it is a key factor in achieving permanent weight loss and improving health. Aerobic exercise works the body’s large muscles, such as the heart, and should be moderately vigorous, but not exhausting, to be most effective. For maximum benefits, most health experts recommend exercising 30 minutes or more on most, preferably all, days of the week.

Try to incorporate some simple calorie-burners into your everyday routine. Even the most basic activities (such as taking an after-dinner walk, using the stairs at the mall instead of taking an escalator, or parking farther away so you have a longer walk) can get you prepared for more aerobic activities.

Exercise not only burns calories, it may increase the body’s metabolic rate and actually decreases appetite for some people. Exercise also has psychological benefits. It improves your sense of well-being and decreases stress (which often leads to overeating).